Hey guys, So for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie me and my girlfriend are going as Starlord and Gamora. We are trying to figure out our costumes and it seems pretty clear that for her costume to be complete she needs to be green. So I was wondering if you guys new what paint we could use for that, obviously it should be able to be washed off. So if anyone can help many many thanks!

I have a gorgeous hollow base of an old bongo and a very hairy piece of skin that is supposed to fit it. I'm not sure how to put them together and what other parts I need to make a functional drum, not to mention shaving the skin. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, well i've researched a bit about homemade tattoo guns and that stuff, and I sudenly remembered that my brother has a Crayola Cutter (just like the one below LOOK FOR IT IN YOUTUBE SO YOU CAN SEE IT WORKING) and I have some Asian ink I think (the bottle is in spanish so it says "TINTA CHINA" so I thinkk it is the same stuff. well, I but some alcohol in a little part of my leg so I could try making a little dot with te cutter and the ink, and for my surpise, it didnt hurt that much and a little black dot remained in my leg BUT! I really want some recomendations of people that might already made their own tattoos, plus, i need ALL the information about this, I mean, care, what should I do if I decide to make a small tattoo in my leg, all of that stuff PLEASE I REALLY NEED THE INFORMATION everything you know about this will be so helpfull and, should I do it with the crayola cutter and that ink??? THANKS GUYS I'LL REALLY APRECIATE YOUR ANSWERS

I know that oogoo outgasses acetic acid, how bad is that to have on your skin? Would it be possible to coat the skin first with something like liquid glove or baking soda, to counteract the acetic acid? Thanks for any info

I'm working on a costume that makes me look like I'm a robot that detached itself from a wall of wires or electrical cords. What materials could I use to attach these items to bare skin (primarily my back)? Any tips? I've scouring the internet for some advice but I've come up empty handed.

This is a question that has been on my mind for around three years. I have a hollow bellybutton, but when I go swimming with my friends I notice that some of them have bellybuttons that appear to be stuffed with skin and are not at the least bit hollow. Why is that? Thanks in advance.

I was wondering if anyone had made a new alien vs humans one you know AVP AV-P =AVH mod on counter-strike 1.6 and if so I could find it. I wasn't asking for the skin stuff? but the actual gaame mod thingy. Like with waepon skins things and sounds. Please reply!

HI. My mom is bed ridden and we have to give her baths in bed. We have tried several different foaming no-rinse soaps and have found on that works the best: Medline Remedy 4-in-1 Body Cleanser. It is good in so many ways, pH Balanced, Non-allergenic, leaves her skin soft, smells great...nice sort of mango-vanilla smell. Problem is, it's $10 + per bottle, depending on where we get it. Here is the product description: Remedy 4-in-1 Body Cleanser cleanses, moisturizes, provides mild protection against transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and nourishes skin in one step. Helps reduce odor. Optimizes shelf space and nursing time. Ready-to-use, no-rinse foam stays in place to prevent product spills, waste and patient discomfort. One bottle contains over 340 pumps of foam.Harsh soaps and surfactants strip skin of moisture and contribute to TEWL. Remedy 4-in-1 Cleansers have a phospholipid base that binds both water and nutrients to gently clean and condition the skin. Remedy cleansers contain ingredients derived from natural and organic oils that mimic the body's natural lipids. Remedy cleansers can also be used during showers in place of soaps. The phospholipids will gently cleanse the skin without stripping it from its natural oils.Olivamine is a blend of antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). These ingredients are all known to play a vital role in basic cellular construction and protection. Olivamine contains antioxidants like hydroxytyrosol, the most potent antioxidant known today (derived from olives). It also contains amino acids like L-proline, L-cysteine and glycine - three of the main building blocks of collagen. These components are also treated with photoacoustic resonance to help minimize the tendency for inflammation, and to ensure they can be rapidly accepted by the skin.No-rinse foam for head-to-toe cleansing and conditioning. Indicated for hair, body, perineal and peristomal areas.Remedy is a trademark of Medline Industries, Inc. UPC is: 0 80196 30616 2 CAN ANYONE COME UP WITH A LESS EXPENSIVE, HOME-MADE OPTION TO THIS? Thanks

I have pale Irish skin that dont tan and trust me I tried everything to get even a little tan color. So simply you can say I burn and peel badly then pale white again. This year seems different, I was sitting in the shade and i got burnt and it was bad and very noticeable as you can see in the photo, but this time I hardly peeled. in some spots I did but very little which is not normal for me. It turned into a tan, so my question is how is that possible, is it a bad thing that a bad burn didnt peel hardly and juat tanned? Oh and to mention I have been taken this women skin, nails, hair vitamin plan at a place called gnc. Could that be helping me absorb the sun better?

So heres the deal, Jack In The Box was having a GameStop sweepstake which I entered and won the following items from: Gears of War 3 free in-game weapon skin 5-pack Assassin's Creed Revelations outfit Gears of War 3 free in-game weapon skin 5-pack (I won this twice which is why it is listed twice) Now seeing as to how I don't play those games and further more do not have an Xbox I was wondering if anyone wants them. If you do write a number in a comment in the next few days. I will randomly choose three numbers and send the link and the code that I was sent by Jack in the box to the three people who wrote those numbers. I will not be held responsible under any circumstances if including but not limited to: the code does not work for you they charge you shipping you do not have the games they arrive damaged etc. etc. etc.

A prisoner in the UK wanted to ink some skin so badly he made a tattoo machine from a Sony PlayStation. He did it by attaching a motor from the PlayStation to a sharpened ballpoint pen. It must've worked because he gave tattoos to others before he was caught it was taken away.
Sony PainStation
via Inhabitat

Well our van must have a leak or something, because the fur on one of my cat's backs is all spiky, and my dad says it smells like transmission fluid. He must have walked under where it was leaking. My dad says it's not dangerous as long as it doesn't touch his skin, but we're going so have to get it of somehow. Should we cut some of the hair off his back? Try to wash it off?

I made my own party foam machine and have been searching online how to make the soap fluid concentrate (not the dish detergent recipes as it can harm eyes and irritate skin) with no luck. Some examples: http://foamalicious.com/cms/foam-machines-for-sale/ http://www.foamyeti.com/Foam-party-fluid-200-to-1-5-gallons-FYFLUID5GAL.htm http://www.shopro4u.com/california_foam_machine_solution_sales_page.htm if you could offer any help, would appreciate it!

I'm new with axolotl so I'm wondering if my axolotl sick or is he a golden albino axolotl. The spots aren't fluffy it is like the skin of a frog I don't think he is sick but just for sure if anyone could tell me is he fine. p/s: I know gravel aren't good for axolotl i just bought him so I'm changing the to bigger stones soon. I bought him because he was kept in a poor condition in the store so I want to give him a better home

Seeing as knex is light, strong and flexible, and most importantly, using rods, I beleive it would be feesable to build a Knex 'glider'. After seeing how gliders are made, it could be possible to build a lightweight spacframe wing out of knex, and make it fly using clingfilm as its 'skin'. An extra boost of gliding power would come from a clingfilm propeller, powered by the very fast and smal, solar motor. Do you think it is possible to make something like this glide 10 metres? Ideas welcome.

So I have created a negative of a sculpt (two part plaster) for a full head and top of shoulders mask; I would like to cast it out of silicone but I am not sure what to use... I need something available in uk that can stretch a lot (it is a tight mask so that it binds to your expressions) and is soft like skin. (And Cheap! :) tops around £30) I was thinking about platsil Gel 00 or 10. What do you think? Thanks! (And if you can, how much would I need?)

I'm not really sure if this is the right forum to talk about this. I did go to Tech, but I saw a topic about MP3 player Skin Mods here, so I thought if I could ask for some help. I have an Mp3 Player, it's cute, runs on AAA batteries and an SD Card. Here is the problem though. It lacks any sort of Display. Like it's one of those screen less ones you find. I do have a spare screen lying over from a cellphone, so I was wondering if it could be possible to modify the inner workings of my MP3 Player so that I can finally see the name of the song I'm listening to. xP

Can someone please talk to someone in charge and take down an Instructable by "velacreations" named "Make a rabbit fur hat from scratch"?? This crazy person is encouraging people to breed bunnies and slaughter them for fur to make hats, need I say more?? Well I will, it's revolting, and extremely disturbing. I was in shock when this even came promoted to my email. I don't want to unsub from this site but will with no hesitation if this doesn't get removed. Rabbits are supposed to be wild or loved as pets. Not raised to be killed, butchered, and skinned (with kids at the house too boot it seems!) and spread across the internet with info on how to do it to tons of other defenseless bunnies. Come on now guys, don't stoop this low and think this acceptable. Thank you and I truly hope action is taken ASAP. Joanne

Just now, my bird flew into a flytrap, i got him out of it, got bit numerous times by a stressed bird, HURT LIKE HELL! and now he's sticky, i need to know how to get the stickiness off of him, i used olive oil on his beak to get the stickiness off of that, his head feathers didn't get trapped (thank goodness) but i need to know how to clean him without having to touch under his wings, he doesn't like that. i don't think it got past his down to his skin. He is also sneezing more than usual are sticky flytraps poisonous? there isn't any facts on the package, google wasn't much help either. I AM NOT SPRAYING WD-40 ON MY BIRD. Please help.

So, tonight my parents are gonna remove a piece of glass that's been lodged in my foot for four years. How I got that piece of glass stuck in there was because I kicked open a glass bookshelf four years ago, when I'm still at the age of ten. I managed to live with it, but just now the piece of glass suddenly emerged from my skin. I tried removing it, but dang that was painful. So my parents decided to remove it when I'm asleep. Now, the question is, will it hurt at all? Will I wake up from the shock? Thanks in advance for answering.*UPDATE* The operation was a success! I added pics, come take a look! Thanks again for those who have helped me out by commenting and giving me advice!

I just posted the following over there, so hopefully a method can be devised to test this safely: (1999) A US Navy safety publication describes injuries incurred while doing don'ts. One page described the fate of a sailor playing with a multimeter in an unauthorized manner. He was curious about the resistance level of the human body. He had a Simpson 260 multimeter, a small unit powered by a 9-volt battery. That may not seem powerful enough to be dangerousâ€¦ but it can be deadly in the wrong hands. The sailor took a probe in each hand to measure his bodily resistance from thumb to thumb. But the probes had sharp tips, and in his excitement he pressed his thumbs hard enough against the probes to break the skin. Once the salty conducting fluid known as blood was available, the current from the multimeter traveled right across the sailor's heart, disrupting the electrical regulation of his heartbeat. He died before he could record his Ohms.

So, this topic is directed toward all of y'all out there that have cold sores, also known as Type 1 Herpes.
I'm fairly sure I just got one (my second), as I tend to get one every year, and I know the symptoms.
I've read through various medical websites, and have discovered many homeopathic ways to treat the sores. Mine is still in the "tingling" stage, but it won't for long.
One of the methods I have tried so far is to take an ice cube and hold it with moderate pressure to the sore, until the cube melts. Afterwards, dry your skin off and dab some alcohol on the sore to disinfect, and repeat. I believe it said that this will slow the spread of the virus.
Is there any truth to that? I'll be going on a 2-day field trip on Thursday, and don't want to have to constantly worry about not touching my mouth. Plus, those of you that have gotten cold sores know that they look disgusting and hurt!
Basically, I'm looking for any homeopathic (like, not including medicines) remedies for cold sores. Thanks y'all!

We all use computers to access this website, which means were all most probably sat infront of a computer.Many other forums do a monthly 'show off your desktop' thread, so i intend to bring the same to here.Some of us are more than happy strolling along with the default windows xp skin, and a few icons on our desktops, others want and need to customize it as much as possible. Some of us, like myself, appreciate the extra efficiency with some of the tools available.This is a place for people to share their desktops, and to ask questions about other peoples, so if you see someone else with a kick ass wallpaper, ask them where they got it!I do not want any flaming. We accept ALL operating systems as equal.So, on with the show, here is my march desktop features include - Running Mac OS X LeopardiStat Menus for temp, and memory usage in menu bariPulse for further activity usage in the desktop.Adium, with a custom black text transparent backgroundGeektool, displaying RSS feed of recent Ibles comments, and the timeMy own home made wallpaper, featuring a snail picture i found.I look forward to seeing yours!- gmjhowe

So tonight, I went from being bored, to being kinda sad. (I am actually crying)
In 2002 (when I was 5) I remember having this Collie (dog) named Cody. We had him for 3 years at this time. I knew he had a defect where his leg was out of his socket. He had trouble walking as he got a bit older. What I didn't know was that he had some kind of infection under his skin on his back.
So later that year, me, my mom, my dad, and my brother all got into my moms car with our dog. I thought he was just getting a check up.The next day my phone rang. My dad answered it... about a minute later my dad came into the room, with a sad look on his face and a tear running down his cheek. He knelt in front of me and said, "Justin.... I'm sorry, Cody died yesterday."
So now, while bored I found some pictures of him.
R.I.P. Cody
(1999 - 2002)

Down here the winter was too short and not cold enough, meaning insect life is literally exploding in numbers already. The house I moved in has badly installed flyscreens on the doors and windows, most likely due to the fact that the house is moving up and down in several points... Anyway, due to the gaps everywhere I found myself with the problem that the mozzies covered my entire front and back door areas. With an unsupporting landlord not even allowing me to replace the bad flysreens with proper ones at my cost I was left with less invasive options to tackle the problem. Before you ask: No I am not even allowed to fix holes in the flyscreens covering the windows :( My next step was to check the local garden center for some natural solutions. Lemon grass seems to do the trick for the inside, the smell also keeps flies away really good. But I had to put the pots in the garden as the ongoing smell gives me headaches. It also did very little to prevent the mozzies from coming inside when I opened any outside door for a few moments. Only way out was to get rid of the mozzie population having daily meeting around my doors. At the local hardware store I found several "surface sprays" and they all stated to be very effective against cockroaches, spiders and other crawling insects - too bad I don't have a problem with them LOL After asking I was informed that those sprays do little to nothing for flying insects, including mozzies and that I would waste my money. During my next shopping trip I got desperate and grabbed a can of surface spray from Aldi. Was under 3 bucks, so I had nothing to loose compared to the 40-80 bucks for a canister of "the good stuff" from the hardware store. At the checkout an old lady asked if I moved into a new house with cockroaches when she saw the spray and I said that I only have a problem with mozzies. She recommended to eat more bananas ROFL Back home it was already too sunny at the front door for the mozzies to show up so I waited till the late afternoon and sure enough I found the area covered with them again. The spray annoyed them badly but I kept spraying all cracks, surfaces and also the gaps at the roof line. Kept checking for a while but could not see any real effect on the mozzies other than swarming around me and trying to suck my blood. Next morning I found the floor at the door covered by a carpet of dead mozzies! I don't mean a few, I am talking enough to take the brrom to clear them up :) Now for the past 5 days the body count is going down quite fast while my door stays free of mozzies. Still have them flying around in "normal" numbers but I can get in and out without a swarm of them following me. Since the product is plant based and considered to be without any side effects on humans or pets I will see how long it lasts and then just spray again - this three dollar can should last throughout the summer... You might wonder why I go through all these troubles... Long story short, I am quite allergic to the bites. Happened as a kid when during a warm summer night at a friends place I got so many bites that the doc gave up counting. He reached over 200 just by counting my head and face to the shoulders... Now I am allergic to the bites, the itch lasts over a week and thebite area swells up to the size of a 50 cent coin with blisters forming after 2 days. You might not get it hat bad but if you do suffer from the bites I found two remedies that help with the itch and reaction: a) BBQ igniter (the manual push type without batteries)! They work like the expensive clickers you get at the pharmacy but last much longer - plus they require more force. The rounded tip is placed directly onto the bite and when you push the button in to "get shocked" two things happen. First the pressure forces the soliver that causes the reaction into deeper skin layers where there are less receptors for the itch. Secondly the high voltage breaks down certain parts of the soliver making it far less effective to cause harm. Downside is that you might like the shock in certain areas and that you should shock at least 10 to 15 times to get a real benefit from it. b) Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) You put a drop of H2O2 directly onto the bite or for difficult areas use a soaked cotton bud. Rubbing it in with a cotton bud for a minute or two works best IMHO. You might see your skin turn white or feel a slight burn right where the bite is - that is normal and harmless. The hydrogen peroxide releases oxygen into the skin - this turns the skin white for short period of time. But the oxygen also breaks down the soliver and the byproducts of the body reaction to it. Works great for horse fly bites too. Downside here is that you should not overdo things and that you should test first how sensitive you are to the reaction. A good test is to apply it onto a small cut or scratch to clean it. If you tolerate that then won't even feel it on a mozzie bite. I hope some of this will help you through the summer ;)

Hello everyone! First off, I love gardening, but over the past few years I've become sensitive to light. I am now unable to go out into the sun for longer than 30 minutes without some extremely strong sunscreen, and sunscreen only prevents my skin symptoms. So my outdoor gardening days are: 1. Over 2. Limited to 30 Minute Sessions. I read the Ikea Aquascape Instructable, and I am currently growing some plants for my father's aquarium. I also want to try the Garden Inside a Ball Instructable as soon as I find a ball to use. Are there any other indoor garden ideas that I can use? I have a pittie that loves to run around and knock things over with his tail, and a German Shepherd that we're watching while the owners continue to not claim him, and he is losing his eyesight so he tends to bump into things. There are a lot of great mini garden ideas, but a lot of them require counter space or tables that we can't provide at the moment. Or maybe some night gardening ideas? Has anyone written an Instructable on gardening for people with vampirism, *cough*, polymorphous light eruption? I would really love some creative ideas. Maybe a sturdy indoor window box?

Hey guys, i just wanted to share this quick recipe with you knexers, since your all so close to me, this is a family secret, so it does not leave this forum category, thankyou. Here we go. Ingredients: 1/2 ts salt 1/2 cup sugar 1 Shadowman39 1oz butter 3 ts chocolate powder 2 eggs So, get those ingredients, and now lets get cooking! First, crack 2 eggs into a bowl, and whisk until smooth. Next add in 1/2 ts of salt and mix with the eggs. Now take 1 Shadowman39 and slowly peel the skin and wash thoroughly. Add the Shadowman39 into the bowl with the eggs and salt, then mix a little more, carry on mixing until it has a smooth texture. After that, get you 3ts of chocolate power and add them one by one, while also adding small amount of the butter. Now all of your ingredients have been put together, mix them all up for around 2-3 minutes until thick and creamy. Next, get some cake cases and lay them evenly apart on a baking tray. Now spoon the cake mixture out of the bowl and into each cake case. Pop them in the oven at 270 degrees and bake for 20-30 minutes. When you think then are about done, take one cake and carefully poke a knife into the top, just to check if they are firm. Congrats, you have just made your own noobcakes!!! These noobcakes are great to share with your family and friends, as they are delicious. The butter combined with the eggs gives for the nice smooth texture, as the Shadowman39 gives it that wonderfully pleasant aftertaste. Thanks for taking your time to read my personal family recipe, leave your feedback below, and i wish you years of happy noobcake making. Thankyou.

I had a lot of old pics to work off of so the building experience was a lot like what I remember loving about knex, without the frustration. This blaster (:>) has a pretty solid mech. The slide, anchored by the gray connectors on the naked black rods (hehe), requires the full motion to prime, resulting in the longest pin draw possible using this draw/anchor method. The pin I have on this has a rubber washer of sorts that I had laying around, so far working wonders. No broken pieces were required, though I slid a broken black rod that was conveniently the perfect length into the barrel construction. As I mentioned in the title, I built this just yesterday and I expect that it'll be further modified -- the grip was something I had lying around and could essentially just throw on, the stock was rushed. I was planning on building another and I'd be happy to make instructions if there's any demand, though these pics alone may be enough for the few of you. (8/24/15) Link to better quality pictures, really unimpressed by what got uploaded here... https://imgur.com/a/4y1Se Credit to KILLERK for the TR of course. I just gave it a new body. Update 8/25/15: 3D printed a piece for the front of the barrel. Update 8/27/15: Small changes all over. I'm okay with the front grip. There's some mole skin on the handle. Changed the below pictures to reflect what I currently have, clearer pics in the imgur album. Update 8/31/15 Finally got around to classing up the stock, quite happy with how it turned out. A few other changes as well, updated the pictures once more. Should be able to build from these pics!

Ever wondered how these thermal papers for your fax machine or supermarket docket work? Nothing that is printed by fast machines for you these days uses ink when it comes to cheaply producing a parking docket for example. If you played around with these papers you already know they turn black when you apply heat. A soldering iron at low heat makes a nice pencil on them... But what if you pet or kid loves to play with these papers? Often they like do just jast with the receipt for your fast food if found inside the bag ;) Most people would not consider a piece of paper as a health risk, but for thermal paper this can often be a different story. A lot of these papers still use bisphenol in one form or the other to develop the ink from crystal clear to black. Feel free to read up on it on Wikipedia - I recommend it! They also have more info on the thermal paper itself, including alternatives to bisphenol. Although recent studies are in favour of the thermal paper, when handled correctly some also show an increased risk for those dealing with a lot of paper - like the people working at cash registers in a really busy shop. Bisphenol can get into the body through the skin and by ingestion - for example when your kid tries to chew on it. As noone really knows where the paper you got came from it is a guessing game to figure out if it is free of harmful chemicals... So the best option is to avoid exposure when possible. If you know your kids or pets might to try eating some paper then make sure you don't leave any thermal paper around where they could reach it. But there is good news too as more and more countries try to set standards for thermal paper in regards to harmful chemical levels and protective coatings. Cheap paper for almost any priter out there can always be ordered from asia to avoid higher costs of local and safe paper though...

At my workplace we basically have a specific cleaner or cleaning product for every task you can think of. From glass over stainless to plastics and desinfectants for lots of different surfaces. After a quick look into my cleaining cabinet at home I started to wonder if I am doing something wrong as I only have a few cleaning things for my use. Asking my friends also showed they have a big bunch of cleaning chemicals, plus the bottle of bleach that everyone down here has. So I though: Your grandma only had a few cleaning products and you learned most of things you need to clean from her. Considering I grew up healthy I guess she must have done something right.... Let's clean up with the cleaning myths, shall we? 1. What cleaning chemicals do you have? For quite a few people the list would start something like this: Dishwashing liquid, window, cleaner, bathroom cleaner, soap scum remover, floor cleaner, oven cleaner, several desinfectants.... If that is true for you too than we might be on to something already. 2. What cleaning chemicals do I really need? This is a good question as everyone is a bit different but I assume a healthy household here. Of course we need certain things to clean our various surfaces properly but it is far less than waht you have been told by the TV commercials.... These days we like to think if there is a special cleaner for something then of course we have to use it to clean properly. Unless you have trades people walking through with their wet dogs several times a day and see dust storms at least twice a week you really only need a few things. So let's get to the basics: 3. Old style cleaning and what you need for it - really the only stuff required to keep all clean and sanitised. a) Methylated spirit b) Clear ammonia - cloudy ammonia works too but be aware that the added soap can be a problem that leaves streakes c) Hydrogen peroxide - pool grade to be cheap in the long run d) Orange oil - citrus oil works great too if you prefer a different smell e) Soap - just basic soap, these stinky, slightly yellow and hard bricks - no fancy smelly soap ;) f) Several cleaning brushes but you should already have those g) Windows cleaning tools - the basic microfibre cloth and squeegee will do h) Several microfibre cloths - bigger ones for floors and walls, smaller for windows and the rest I) Yesterdays newspaper j) Baking soda With those few things we have everything to clean whatever comes up and if bought in bulk comes down to a few cents per bottle compared to a few dollars when you buy all the stuff you don't need. Lets figure out what the stuff does and how to use it: 4. Mixing and what to use it for.... The alcohol is a really good remover for everything greasy and also desinfects the surfaces. A quick spray and wipe on your bench is all that you need to remove oily residue or the mess from the kids. Mixed with a bit of soap and water (about 50-50) also removes sticky stuff like jam or syrup. If we use about 50ml of alcohol, 50ml of clear ammonia and 900ml of water we get one liter of really good window cleaner. The modern way is to use microfibre for the cleaning and a squeegee to get it dry, the old way just uses a cloth and then the window is "polished" with some old newspaper. The black ink reacts with the alcohol and form a mild abrasive while the paper soaks up the moisture, the result is a prefectly clean window in under 3 minutes. Orange oil is not only a powerful degreaser but also lifts old dirt or even glue residue. Used directly it will get rid of the remains from sticky tape, stickers and everything that other cleaners fails to get off - smoth surface and non soaking of course. 50ml of it with 50ml of ammonia and 100ml of alcohol per bucket makes a good florr cleaner and your house smells nice when done. Works best if you can use a microfibre cloth or floor wiper to dry the surface with it. In the kitchen we can find a lot of surfaces that are greasy and we already covered that bit, so lets get to the though stuff. The kitchen sink can become dull looking although it is not scratched. This is due to hard water, food residue, soap and other things. Best is of course to wipe it and dry it after use but who really does this every day? A pot scrubbing pad with some baking soda on it does the trick here. Make the pad nly moist and sprinkle the baking soda on it. Rub over the stainless and if too dry add a few drops of water. Once done rinse off and enjoy the difference. For hard to clean or badly turtured sinks you can try a ball of aluminium foil and coke - use it like a polish. The oven is often our worst nightmare. The cooktop is not far behind. But even here we can have a chance to clean without too much hard work or bad chemicals. Of course the best way is to prevent these spills and boil overs ;) For the cooktop some hot water and baking soda will soften the baked on stuff. Simply remove what you can with the hot water and then sprinkle the surface with baking soda. Cover all with the paper towels and if not wet enough add a bit more hot water so all shets are soaked. Leave ove night and wipe clean the next day. The oven is a bit of a problem once the side and back wall are filthy. If baking soda with a pot scrubber won't do the trick get some of these steel pads with soap in it. The soap in them is special in terms that you only need a little bit of water to remove almost anything with them - and they won't scrath enamelled surfaces. On the bottom we often have badly burnt in things that are next to impossible to fully remove. I suggest to cover the same way as the cooktop but also to add some orange oil. Just make a thick paste of baking soda and orange oil and wrok it into the soiled surface. Cover with wet paper towels and leave over night. Now you don't want to flood your oven, so that means you need to use a sponge or thick cloth that is big enough to wipe off the surfaces you soaked the day before. As the orange oil really is oil it pays off to use some alcohol in the cleaning water to get rid of the oil and grease a bit easier. Don't expect to see a clean and shiny surface after one treatment if the oven was badly misused, you might have to repeat the procedure a few times. If in doubt use the soapy steel pads for last clean and before soaking over night again. Three to four treatments are usually enough to clean even the worst disaster that can happen in an oven unless you baked it in for months... 5. Desinfecting and mouldy spots.... As said, the methylated spirit is basically just pure alcohol and kill almost anything that might harm you. But sometimes that just is not enough. And who really wants to spend an hour or longer to clean some mouldy spots in the shower or try to cover the smell by spraying room freshener? As a lst resort for everything I use Hydrogen Peroxide. The supermarket grade is only 3% and usually badly overpriced, so I suggest to get a small canister of pool grade peroxide. Do yourself a favour and ask them to install a tap on it - you don't want to do it yourself unless you already know how bad pool grade peroxide is! For your own safety when handling it I strongly recommend wearing long rubber gloves, nitrile is better but please no latex as it could start to burn when getting in contact with the peroxide. For high grade desinfecting or the removal of mouldy areas I recommend to dilute 1:5, one part of peroxide to 5 parts of water. Only for the mould removal on tiled, plastic, glass or metal surfaces you can use the peroxide pure from the container - but please add face protection when cleaning! Some spray bottles work with peroxide some just start leaking badly, if you want try an old bottle of chlorine based cleaner after really flushing everything out. The peroxide breaks down any organic material it comes into contact with, so not just the mould you want to remove but also your skin or eyes if you allow contact. On the skin you see white areas after contact and they won't go away until all the oxygen in the skin is gone that was left by the peroxide. If you act too late it means you might loose some skin flakes. The sure sign of overlook exposure on your skin is a burning sensation in the area - this only happens when the amount was big enough or your clothes got soaked. On your surfaces to clean you will notice bubbles forming quite quickly - this mean the peroxide is reacting with something, usually organic material. Let it bubble... Once it stops bubbling the surface is either sterile or the peroxide is used up, if it bubbles when adding fresh peroxide onto it then there is still crap left ;) It really helps to brush off the surface after each treatment as a lot of loose material will be flushed out when rinsing off. Once it looks and smells clean again it usually means it is clean :) 6. Special case: Wood... Be it wooden floorboards, furniture or just your chopping board - always try what the manufacturer recommends first! Untreated wood should never be cleaned with anything wet! Sealed wood, like floorboards or things with varnish on it to make it water proof can be cleaned the same way as mentioned above - but I would leave out the ammonia as some wood treatments simply won't tolerate it and might go dull instead of returning nice and shiny - spot testing required if you think you have to use ammonia as well! Orange oil itself makes a great furniture cleaner if the surface is smooth and sealed, but if it is not it means the oil soaks into the wood together with the stuff you want to clean off! It also takes off several paints and types of varnish if you work it hard enough and give it some time, so avoid this and be quick instead of forgetting to finnish the job ;) Always try to wet the surface as little as possible and wipe fully dry as soon as possible! Ok, good start but what is the real benefit? For me the actual benefit is that I know what I am using and exposing myself to. Just reading what is in most cleaning products we find at the supermarket makes me want to clean again after using them, just to remove their residues... I admit it might take some time to get used to mixing and just having a few ingredients for the cleaning but it does work great. Especially if you or your kids are already sensitive to certain chemicals or just of poor health in general you might see the benefit quite quickly. Some people really don't like the smell of ammonia but unless you are sensitive to it there is nothing to worry when using the household grade as we always dilute it down massively anyway. A good way to avoid the worst stink is by mixing it outside with the wind from behind. I won't say that certain commercial products are bad, harmful or not good enough for the job. Some are actually worth to have in some cases but I just say it is better to only have a hand full of chemicals that are not too bad instead of an endless list of things were we don't even know what's inside. For me the best is your surprise when it actually works better than you expected and report your findings here.

Our Keurig coffeemaker is several years old. We began to see a ragged star opening in the top of the K-cups after brewing and coffee grounds various places outside the K-cup. All of the usual recommended fixes were no help. (See below.) This video gave me a solution that worked very well for us. (I have no personal connection to the video or its maker.) We now see only a neat round hole in the top of our K-cups after brewing, not a torn and ragged opening. Video summary: Remove two screws under the flip-up cover above the K-cup holder. Remove the decorative plastic cover by tugging at it. Snip the zip tie that keeps the soft white tube on the fitting. Pull the tube from the fitting. Hold the end of the tube over a cup. Cycle water through the Keurig until several cups come out clean. Clear the upper and lower needles of coffee grounds. Attach the tube with a new zip tie and screw the cover back in place. One word of caution: Very hot water spewed onto the soft skin at the base of my thumb and it was very uncomfortable. I draped a folded towel over my hand while hot water was being expelled from the disconnected tube at the top of the Keurig. Also, I ran quite a number of cups of water through the Keurig until I got three consecutive cups of water without any debris particles of any kind in the water. (I did not see an accumulation of coffee grounds like the man describes in the video, but I saw what was similar to pieces of a brown wing from a housefly.) In the two or three days following the procedure in the video we did occasionally have a K-cup blowout, but have seen only perfect round holes after a week or so, and we probably brew a dozen cups of coffee each day. The usual recommendations-- +Keurig's official recommendation as the cause of grounds migrating outside the K-cup is too much air inside the K-cup as evidenced by a domed lid on the K-cup before it is punctured. Their recommendation is to poke the top of the K-cup with a pin before putting it into the Keurig. Because of my observations and experience, I give very little credence to this. +Accumulated lime from the water needs to be descaled from the inside of the Keurig. Lime accumulation does cause a partially full cup of brewed coffee. We regularly descale our machine. We have also run water through our machine whenever we have seen grounds in our coffee and some grounds came out with the water. Descaling is a good thing to do, but I doubt it has a connection to bursting K-cups and grounds where they do not belong. +Clogged upper and lower needles. The video will direct you to use a wire to insure open passageways inside the needles above and below the K-cup.

So, I'm like 500th something in the world in RockBand. To Prove it, here are all the songs I've gold starred. The Lines mean that I didn't gold star the next song(s). Like for example, I gold starred the first 17 songs. I will list 17 songs, then make a line. The songs with the "*" next to them are Fc's only a few :(Say it Ain't so By WeezerCreep By RadioheadI think I'm paranoid By GarbageWanted Dead or Alive By Bon JoviIn Bloom By NirvanaGimme Shelter By The Rolling StonesWave of Mutilation By (the most overrated band ever)The PixiesCelebrity Skin By HoleMississippi Queen By MountainHere it Goes Again By OK GoSuffragette City By David BowieMain Offender By the HivesMaps By the Yeah Yeah YeahsReptillia By The StrokesEpic By Faith No MoreBlitzkreig Bop By The RamonesShould I Stay or should I go? By The ClashBlack Hole Sun By SoundgardenThe Hand that Feeds By Nine Inch NailsSabotage By The Beastie BoysParanoid By Black SabbathDani California By The Red Hot Chili PeppersAre you gonna be my girl? By JetWelcome Home By Coheed & CambriaVasoline By The Stone Temple PilotsWhen You Were Young By The KillersGreen Grass and High Tides By The OutlawsEnter Sandman By MetallicaBONUS SONGSPleasure (Pleasure) By Bang CamaroBrain Power By FreezepopDownloaded SongsCharlene (I'm Right Behind You)* By Stephen and the ColbertsDirty Little Secret By The All American RejectsFranklin's Tower By The Grateful DeadHysteria By MuseI Need a Miracle By The Grateful DeadInterstate Love Song By The Stone Temple PilotsLimelight By RushMoving to Seattle By The MaterialNatural Disaster By The Plain White T'sPain and Pleasure* By Judas PriestPromised Land By VesuviusShe's a Handsome Woman By Panic! At the DiscoTen Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)* By Coheed & CambriaYou've Got Another Thing Comin'* By Judas PriestIf you Gold Starred more than me (There's gotta be someone on Instructables), then make a forum topic, and gimme a link. Or you can just make a comment. To Make the lines used dashes (-).To make small text make 2 commas (,) the text, then 2 commas again.==Some terms that might be helpful:==-------------------------------------------------If someone uses the term "FC" it means "Full Combo". Full Combo means that you didn't overhit (look below), and you didn't miss any notes.If someone uses the term "Overhit", it means that you hit the drum where you don't have to.A drum fill, is something that looks like long notes that go across the "guitar neck". It is also known as the "Overdrive Activator". When you see the long notes, you have to hit at least three notes, and hit the green (or red if you play on lefty) pad when you see the green "bulb" pop up at the end of the notes.Overdrive is something that makes your multiplier go higher (and count by two). For example, if you have a multiplier of 4 (the highest) and you go into Overdrive, your multiplier goes up to 8. 1 makes 2, 2 makes 4, and 3 makes 6.Your multiplier multiplies the number of points. If you have a multiplier of 1, then each note will be 25. 2, is 50 each note, 3 is 75 each note, and 4 is 100 points.Again, if you have any questions, just ask.Some things you might

I recently had to move house and within two weeks of settling in my cats got attacked by fleas while outside. All the years they had not a single tick or flea so I did not pay too much attention until I spotted the first flea. Needless to say that once you spot one there are many hiding already... From past experience with my dog I did not trust the over the counter flea collars and decided to go to my vet. They recommended Frontline for the treatment, plus a flea bomb to treat the house and washing everything the cats like to sleep on. Came to just under $100AU - ouch... Mind you I have hardwood floors here, so I was quite confident the bomb would could kill all what might remain inside. The cats were kept indoors too to prevent new fleas finding them outside. Well, after two weeks of daily combing for fleas the problem did not get better - it got worse! Seemed they were having parties on my cats. Back to the vet to complain I was told it might take a bit longer to show the desired results. Hmmm, treatment every 4 weeks and after 2 weeks nothing happened?? On the way out an old couple with their two maltesers stopped me and said that they already gave up on Frontline and most other products as the fleas around here are resistant to the meds. They now only use Neem oil that is massaged into the skin and fur of their dogs. Sadly my cats would rather scratch me into meat strips then to let get near them with the oil. So I did some asking around with my friend Google and the story of the old folks seems to be confirmed for most parts of Australia anyway. Most flea collars and over the counter meds might still work to keep fleas away but not anymore to actually treat your pet once infected with more than a handful of fleas. And yes, I am aware of those sprays claiming to kill all fleas instantly but I also know cats like to clean themself and don't like the idea of them liking the spray off the fur. After some more digging I found out that Selamectin is still working and that works in several ways to control fleas and other parasites like heartworm and such. You can look it up on Wiki if you like. What I like about this med is the fact that fleas are really filthy things eating their own excremts. Since the poo is usually everywhere in the fur and hard to remove it makes the killing even easier. Plus in all spots where fles might be hiding but have noone to feed on they still eat their own ..... and die off. My vet only had Revolution available at a price of almost 25 bucks per single dose - no thank you... Instead I decided to bite the bullet and try one of the many online pharmacies for pet supplies. Here I found "Stronghold" containing the above Selamectin similar to Revolution in concetration (bit higher though)... The website stated to expect about 4 weeks for the delivery being xmas season and so on. For me that meant cleaning everything again, using a normal insect bomb again and a last round of washing the cats caves and other items of interest. To my surprise the parcal arrived ten days later, bit banged up but contents still fine. All up the time for the Frontline was over anyway and instead of paying again for a useless treatment I gave the new stuff a try. This was now two weeks ago and here is my summary: Unlike treating with Frontline my cats actually tolerated the application without going mad, the smell is much more pleasant. Did not expect anything to happen the first day and it takes a while to dry off the furr anyway so they got a day free of the dreaded flea comb. During the first week there was little to no indication of anything good happening but it was to be expected as it takes up to 10 days to build up in the blood as well. On day eight I had my first dead fleas in the comb and from here it got more every day. Mostly the adults while the smaller ones still seemd to be active. To the end of the second week I also got dead young ones in the comb indicating the promised break preventing them to grow up actually works. I will still monitor the process and keep up with monthly treatments during the summer. So you might see an update or two later on. How to properly treat your pet and enviroment once you noticed a flea problem. First: Don't panic! If you have carpet or your pets literally go everyhwere like your bed, sofa and so on you want to combine your effords to avoid a fresh infestation from hatching eggs. Ask around or check online if standard meds still have the desired effect in your local area, if not go for a product that does instead of wasting time and money! Spray treatments or insect bombs can work quite well to control what's left behind by your pet but you need to be aware of the life cycle of the pest in question. For most, including fleas, this means a single treatment might not do the trick. See it that way: You treat the animal, clean everything you can and also kill whatever crawls around. But there is still unhatched eggs and living fleas on your pet. So you need or better should repeat the house treatment 8 to 14 days later to get rid of whatever hatched. Garden beds or just your lawn can be a source of problem too, here Neem oil seems to do the trick quite well but you can use other products from your local garden center as well. What kills most harmful insects out there on your plant will do similar on fleas. To get the timing of all treatments right you might want to start on your pet and use a good, normal clean for the house and fabrics. Once you see the fleas go dead on your pet treat the rest. This way you can be sure all fles that make it onto your pet won't survive or produce more viable eggs. Now use whatever suits you to remove or kill the eggs, larvea and crawling fleas around you. If done right and the meds take care of eggs too you won't have any further problems. Regular checks should be done anyway and if you already know fleas are a problem in your area then please continue the treatment on your pet until the season is over. Things you might want to know to calm down a bit and prevent panic: Fleas on your pet are usually only biting them but not you. This does not mean they won't try if you have hundreds of them crawling in your bed. But they won't stay on you and it takes a good amount of bad luck to get bitten instead of just noticing something crawls on you. So the risk of getting some weird desease from an accidental flea bit is slim. When to be careful with a flea infestation? If you are allergic to their excrements or have an otherwise compromised immune system the dust containing flea excrements can cause reactions. So if your pets got you a lot of fleas and you notice breathing problems, red skin areas or itching you should contact your GP to discuss the problem and possible options. Short term a normal paper face mask like used for dust will help, same for anti-histamines if it is an allergic reaction. The best cause of action is to use a vacuum cleaner with HEPA filter on everything that might get into contact with your pets. A standard vacuum cleaner will pick up the extremets too but just blows it out the other end making things far worse.

In an attempt to provide a rather "interesting" christmas present as a joke for a colleague i have assembled an remote controlled electronic shocker device ( perfectly safe almost no current at all) by wiring an electric shocker of a design i am familiar with making so that it's power is provided by wires which previously went to the motor of an RC car( i intend to do an instructable on how it was built, if i get it to work!). the arrangement is constructed from the charging circuit of a disposable camera with the capacitor chopped off and replaced by the electrodes that will connect to my receiver's( my colleague) hand, the AA battery has been replaced with a remote controlled power supply ( same voltage and ampage as an AA battery)system. Enough on what i have built( unless you need more details to help me), here is my problem. I had originally intended to place the shocker in a small box and attach each output high voltage wire to a tin foil half wrapped over half of the box( i would cover the join with a ribbon) the plan was that when someone picked up the box their hand would form a connection across the tin foil halves and therefore their hand would be acting as a resistor in a high voltage circuit so a (very tiny less than 0.25 milliamps) current would pass through it( whether the voltage is applied across the two halves can be controlled by a remote hidden in my pocket so when other people pick up the parcel they get no shock). but i have found that ,although the output wires are at a high enough voltage to shock someone, the resistance of the tin foil means that the remaining voltage to go across the person's hand is not enough to shock them. ALSO the shocker will work across about a centimetre of skin ( like touching both wires with the tip of the same finger) but when the contact points are as far apart as a whole hand( like thumb to last finger) the increased resistance of the hand means that the current is so small that i cannot even feel a tingling when i test it( i had a few (willing volunteer)friends who are working on this with me also test but it could not shock them either). so my problem is that i must either find a much lower resistance form of contacts to coat the halves of the box( i have no means of using expensive materials or ones that need to be heavily worked on before attaching( like metal plates that must be attached to each face of the box)) or a ( very quick and simple, i only have about a half an hour slot of time to do any soldering before the party ) way to boost the voltage ( i was thinking of attaching extra batteries but suspect this would not work and also am unlikely to get an opportunity to do much electronic alteration) or ( most promisingly) must find a way to house some very bulky parts in a housing where i can guarantee that my colleague will touch both electrodes with one finger without suspecting anything until he gets shocked( this needs to be something like the switch on a torch rewired so that the electrodes are on the switch or whatever, or any other gift where the "obvious" thing to do is put a finger on a certain metal point for some reason( preferably when picking the present up)). I have already addressed any safety concerns so please do not criticise me for this as electric shocks are harmless provided the current is low enough and does not cross the heart.( i have a very low current with both electrodes on the same hand on top of which it only shocks when i press a button on the remote). ALSO please do not suggest i rebuild the whole circuit as i know that the circuit works fine and i do not have time to build it all again or do any serious modifications, THANKS any answers would be appreciated, THANKS i think i have found solution,it is really awesome and involves placing a battery in parrallel with the power lead into the shocker from the remote control system. i am not sure why it is working but i suspect some effects similar to capacitors are involved, the really weird thing is it does not shock you when you grab the box but rather when you pull your hand away. incase i find any other problems this thread is still open to suggestions and ideas for other solutions, assuming the system works perfectly after i have soldered my modifications in place( a few days time before i get a chance to use a soldering iron) then i will no longer need any help( providing nothing else goes wrong). thanks for reading all of this.

1)Walk as slow as you can in front of me 2)Stand in the middle of a hallway with your friends talking 3)Stand in the middle of a door yelling at person for being in your way 4)Asking me a stoopid question (Is a penny a solid? No it's a liquid. That's with a "U") 5)Asking me which book I am reading. (Move two inches and read the side) 6) Being a girl and telling me to cut my hair because it is long 7)Being a boy and asking why I have long hair/telling me to cut my hair because it is long(Why do you have short hair?/Stop being a genderist((I know, that's not the correct term)) 8)Calling me Dominique on purpose(I understand if it's an accident) 9)"Singing" a rap song near me 10)Drumming with your pencil 11)Saying Dawg, Wassup, the N word, Tight(as slang) straight up, The B word et ectera 12)Calling me stoopid because I don't know the answer to a stupid example(Sorry, no example) 13) Talking in a fake ghetto accent(I'm dead serious, I know a kid like this) 14)Laughing at the most unfunny things(someone making an unconvincing animal sound, and you laughing like crazy) 15)Speaking in an other language right in front of me, while looking at me. (That, or I'm paranoid) 16)When a teacher is splitting the class into a boys and girls, when the teacher say girl, everyone looks at me and tells me to go with them.(In Sixth grade) 17)Suspecting me to know the answer to a question we haven't been told the answer yet.(Okay, open your books. "Dominic? Which page?") 18)People getting mad at me because I cut them off in the hallway because they're walking three miles an hour. 19)People who say all rock in people screaming in a microphone(And rap is grown adults Rhyming. "Cat hat dawg." You're a rapper! 20)People who act like they're something they're not(Can't get too specific without getting people mad) 21)School rules.(Apparently, if I tap a friends shoulder, that means I'm harassing them.) 22)The fact I have to put my hair in a pony tail when we're doing experiments in Science(Oh No! I may get a drop a dye in my hair! But who cares about my exposed skin?) 23)People who hate the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana because they're "Rock" (They're not) 24)This one girl in my Art class because I didn't know what a ribbon that looked like a puzzle meant. (She thought it was for breast cancer. I knew it wasn't. It wasn't. I'm still the idiot. To this day, she's still the "All knowing queen of the galaxy.") ((I made that up to annoy her.)) 25)People who say I have no life because I'm inside more than in when it isn't Baseball season. 26)people who assume I'm goth or emo because I'm a boy with long hair, not the tannest person, spend time inside, likes Dexter( a serial killer), wears jeans all year long, isn't the nicest person, and wear black, or dark clothes(A lot of people) 27)My friend claiming all pasta is served, or should be served cold. (Yum.) 28)The fact I like three girls, don't know which one I like, and don't know if they like me.(Please don't tell me just to tell them how I feel) 29)The fact this one girl thinks all men don't talk about there feelings 30)Girls asking me if they can do me hair and make-up(No.) 31)I need permission to wear makeup on Halloween 32)8th and 9th graders who think they're better then me because I'm in 7th grade 33)People who think I'm stupid it because I went to Beginner garden 34)School dances.(I can only slow dance, only like the slow dance, and it will look weird if I slow dance with someone to a fast song) ((How manly. lol)) 35) People who think I have no emotions because I don't laugh at stoopid stuff 36)Waking up at around 6:30 so I can take a shower in the morning. 37)My dad hating my long hair(Trust me, it's ironic) 38) The fact that I, emphasis on the I can't reply to comments. 39)People being overall stupid 40)Science class 41)People who use improper grammar and spelling(I don't my sentences aren't ending in periods) 42)The fact that I feel like I'm surrounded by idiots at my school, and smart people are an endangered species.(Thanks you Instructables for letting me be by some smart people) 43)Girls who say the word like way to much. 44)The fact that I don't how high my vocabulary is (we had to stop at a 21 year old due to the time.) ((I admit, I had to guess for some of them)) 45)People who hate people just because you're you, or because of the way you sound on a microphone (Dead serious. That dude was B) 46)The fact our economy sucks. 47)Having to play the same three songs in band everyday. (Really, it's five, not counting the scales. Counting the scales, it's seven) 48)Posers 49)People who assume the worst of people, and judge a book by it's cover. (When you're not annoying me, I am very nice, even with my long hair, black shirt, and my pants in the summer) 50)People who don't know what they're talking about. 51)People who claim they're better then you because of one aspect of their life. 52)The fact I don't have enough time to read my book in school(Darkly Dreaming Dexter) 53)People who are self centered(Not a real example but...) (("My dog died today..." "Do you think I should get a bigger mirror so I can see more of my beautiful face?)) 54)When the teacher purposely picks a slow reader to read. (I understand they can't read, but don't waste everyone else time 55)People blocking my view. ("Oh my god! She's pulling paper from over a cup!") 56)People playing with my hair. (I swear to god, this dude was playing with my hair. I Calmly said please stop, then when he didn't stop a second or two later, I pulled his arm away. He was smiling the whole time.)

Year after year the topic "I have a fish tank" seems to go more out of control. What was once a hobby just to have some fish can now be a design feature both in your home and inside the tank. Realistic looking lasdscapes, optical illusions that make you think the tank is much bigger and the list goes on. But one thing that now always pops up is the must have thing of UV filtration. Or to be precise: UV-C sterilisation! Now, if we trust Wiki and our big water suppliers then UV-C will literally kill anything alive that comes into contact with. So of course it would be a good thing to have for your tank - or not? UV-C is very dangerous for your eyesight and quite harmful for your skin! Looking into a proper UV-C lamp without protection means you can go blind! Even good sunglasses might not have enough protection in the UV-C range, so only use them for additional protection but never without and glass between you and the lamp! Don't be a fool! Treat UV-C seriously! You would not look into the full sun with your sunglasses and would not expose your eyes or skin to a powerful laser, UV-C is to be treated the same way! Let's start by using some boring text to explain the concept a little bit. On a large scale special and quite powerful systems are used to treat our drinking or pool water. Here special UV-C lights with a wavelenghts of 260nm or below are used to shine through the water passing by. There are two key factors here. a) the wavelenght b) the water flow rate and the corresponding time the water is in contact with the UV light To ensure all bacteria, viruses, algae and other harmful organics are dead the water must circulate for long enough so even the last water molecule had a few seconds of exposure. All this only works good with "crystal clear" water for obvious reasons as otherwise the UV has to be even more powerful to pass through. Single cell organisms literally crack into pieces similar to being exposed to gamma rays, more complex cells like algae have their cell membranes damages and the DNA suffers as well causing reproduction loss and early death. Even some chemicals break down, most importantly here chlorine based substances. Differences within the UV-C range! If you bothered to check Wiki about the topic of UV-C you will already know that only certain wavelengths within this spectrum will actuall be powerful enough to do what we want it to do. And here is the first problem for us hobby users. Most cheaply advertised "sterlisation lamps" you find in places like Ebay are actually totally useless. Stating to be selling a UV-C light to sterilze your water in such a case is still not considered to be fraud though. Simply because it still does what it supposed to do, just very slow and with very little effect. Only the so called "short wave" UV-C range is powerful enough! To avoid loosing business during the times of the biggest hype in 20 years no seller will actuall state the available wavelengths. That means without this info anywhere you can be certain the advertised lamp is of little to no use. Even those advertised to be short wave UV-C might not be the real deal. However, if a decent manufacturer is behind the actual lamp used it is possible to check the datasheet for these performance figures - but again most cheap systems come with no-name lamps inside. Check the prices for a reputable UV-C light with the same lamp fitting, e.g. G23 and you will see it might cost more than your entire system. Ok, you have a poper short wave UV-C lamp or consider getting a canister filter with one in it.... Never, ever test your lamp without proper protection!!!!! UV-C will damage your eye within seconds! If you system or lamp does not provide a viewing port or shine through area then you have to place a piece of glass between you and the light! UV-C won't be able to penetrate normal window glass but will pass through quartz glass. Place the lamp in a box and cover with the glass. How make proper use of UV-C sterilisation... The replacement lights are quite expensive, so let's see how to get the most out of them. As said before exposure is the key factor so the flow rate of the UV system must match tank size and flow rate of your filter system. Canister filters with a build in lamp should be designed to match but I will tell you later what to look for ;) Most of us will prefer to have a in-line system if there is already a good canister filter at work, so I will focus on those and rop in solutions. If you compare in-line system you might notice that some quite small and low power units claim to allow for the same flow rates as for example 40W units. Some are fraud and just want to sell while others use simple physics to make the claim true. A good system will utilise an auger like "ramp" that forces the water to circulate around the tube many times - causing up to ten times longer exposure rates. Others create this sprial effect more like a vortex with some diverters and modified inlets. The later seems to be less efficient though with low power lamps. An in-line system should be on the outlet side of your canister filter so the best quality water will pass through it. A drop in solution should be used alone and without the existing normal filter pump you might have in there. Ok, got it, but how do I actually use it now? Despite common thinking a UV-C system should not run 24/7 like your normal filter. You really only need it to solve problems you should not have in a healthy tank! It is not a magical solution to make your underlaying problems go away ;) Let's start with the most common reason someone buys a UV-C system: An algae or bacterial outbreak causing greenish or milky water. If that developed slowly over a period of weeks then you would be better off to do a good clean of the tank and filter plus a decent water exchange. A few drops of meds will do the rest. And if you constantly get algae growing on your glass, ornaments and plants then your nutrient levels and water quality is not right anyway and needs a good check. But of course there is also the problem of light - too much for too long and unwanted gree appears everywhere. If in doubt reduce the light power, shade out natural light or reduce the on time for your lights. Having said that we now face the problem of a sudden outbreak after introducing new fish or plants. If you don't have a quarantaine tank chances are that sooner or later you get unwanted or even harmful guest into your tank. Here the UV-C will be beneficial, which is why a canister filter with build in light should have a seperate switch or power supply for the light. After an outbreak or while introducing new life into your tank the UV-C will remove a lot of the things that we don't want to bring along. For new life I leave the light on non stop for a week, that is for a small 4ft tank with 200 liters. To control an outbreak it depends on how bad it is. I assume here you can still see the back of your tank but that the water either appears greenish or slightly milky from bacteria. As a personal thing I prefer to to remove and clean my filter material before treating a severe outbreak. Once done I fill the filter with a mix of activate carbon material and fine filter wool. Reason for this quite simple: The outbreak causing stuff is already in your filter material and will be a constant source of re-infection. And since breaking down all this bad stuff causes even more bad stuff to be produced as biological waste we want to discard it properly once done. Using just fine filter wool and activated carbon also reduces the flow rate bit if compacted ;) Now we can turn on the light and pump and forget about it for a while. It is not recommended to run UV lights on a timer as you want them on all time to prevent short lifespan and have ongoing treatment of the water. Good idea to take a picture at the same of a day from now on to compare and check results. After 3 days the water should definately be clearer, if not then either your filter material is packed too losse or the lamp is no good. Once the water appears to be clear do a readin test - take a newspaper behind the tank and check if the text is clear - blurry means the water is still not clean. You will reach a point where the water quality will not further improve as much as in the days before. This is the time where you discard or clean out to dry your filter material and put the original stuff back in. The activated carbon should be discarded of course. You cleaned filter material will now need a certain time to grow enough good bacteria to go back to the old performance. During this time you should still leave the light on. In most cases with enough fish and plants in the tank a week should be sufficient. After that you can leave the light off and keep the tank fit and healthy. Special case: Algae everywhere! Especially after getting a new plant you can end up with quite pesty algae growth. Be it these long ghost hair types or in a bad case the black stuff growing on plants, ornaments and the glass. I have even seen tanks with algae covering the entire bottom of the tank causing the gravel to look like carpet. Here I can only advise to set up a quarantaine tank for your fish. Then remove all infested material for manual removal and cleaning. Infested plants should be cut clean and what can be boiled should be boiled in water for a few minutes. Now start scrubbing in the tank with ongoing water replacements. I prefer to let everything settle over night without any bubbler or pump running. This way I can suck up a lot of sediment the next day. If you can remove all plants and fish you can now use hydrogen peroxide and add it to your tank water. But this is only feasable for small desktop tanks. Before using the UV as above to cure an outbreak you should consider all water one last time. Allow at least 2 weeks with ongoing water checks before adding plants back in and another week before placing your fish back in the tank. The week before adding fish should be used to monitor the plats for any signs of algae you might have missed - if you find any remove it! A week after the fish is back in you can turn off the UV light. Underwater UV-C light!? In most online stores you will find quite cheap UV lights to be advertised as underwater or in tank use. Although it might sound tempting you should be well aware of the dangers of using them. The glass of your tank will block the harmfull UV rays but the water surface won't, so either don't ever look at it or use proper sunglasses with real UV protection. Apart from the dangers to you these lamps are not just cheap in price but also cheaply produced. That means there is no way of telling how much or how little UV-C is produced. If they are good then you still need to know in what type of tank setup you can use them. As plants can tolerate a bit of UV a placement as far away from the nearest plant should do, especially if you can place a bubble wall betwenn light and plants. The fish is another thing as some seem to be unaware of the danger in their tank. This means they can get too close to the light but I have not found any articles explaining how harmful UV-C is to fish or their eyesight. I guess once your fish starts to bounce into everything you know... ;) My advise is to stay away from the idea of hanging a UV-C lamp in your tank, the risk for you and your tank is just not justified. If you need to go cheap then get two or thre of these lamps so you have spares. But use them externally ;) Meaning: Take a UV proof plastic container of small size and place the light in there. To be really safe tape the lid and all holes for the hoses with black tape. Place the container above the water level of your tank and if you only have an internal filter pump push a suitable sized hose into the outlet to feed into you canister. Check how high you pump can make it and place the outlet or overflow slightly below this level. When to change the light? If you made it all the way down here then you might already had the benefit of using light to "cure" your tank. Now we are faced with the high replacement cost for the lamp itself. Ususally only flouroscent tubes are used. It is always good to check after purchase what type of lamp and manufacturer (if there is one) was used. In some cases the system itself is like an inkjet printer: Just a cheap way to make you buy the consumables. Let's say you new in-line filter was priced at $100 to have a nice round number, some are cheaper some much more expensive. The lamp used might be an exotic type and not even be available easy, so before you buy your system check where you can get spares, not just the lamp of course. A replacement lamp can be as ceap as 20 bucks or cost even more than your system if you need to order it elsewhere. The quartz glass sleeve can break too meaning you then need a lamp and cylinder. Going with a reputable brand and paying a bit more certainly helps to get spares in the future. Let's just assume you either got your system in bulk due to the price of replacement lamps or can get them at a reasonable price. UV-C lamps are not like your normal flouroscent light tubes you have around or maybe even on top of your tank. Consider them like the tubes used in the now unhealthy tanning beds. After a certain amount of time they no longer produce enough of the short wave UV light that we need. As you can't see it and most of us won't have the means to specifically measure it we have to trust manufacturers recommendations. For most good brands the numbers are the same: 8000 hours max. Considering the costs it does make sense to keep written track of the usage. Not too hard since we won't use them like normal lights but instead have them on for a week or more without turning them off. I recommend to have a replacement at hand long before you need it. A lamp can fail premature, crack or simply burn out. The 8000 hours are based on 24 hour usage, so one day on, one day off. This could mean for us the lifetime can be slightly longer but I would not go over 9000 hours. As a rule of thumb: If the water does not show good signs of getting clear on day thre the lamp is due.